


The Things I Do Know

by theparacosm



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), The Dream Team - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF, jrwi
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Embedded Images, Tommyinnit needs a hug, and its about sadness, big psychological delving, charlie slimecicle is in the smp because i'm an avid supporter of it, delving into the psychology of blockmen personas, dream is so fucking manipulative, everyone's just so tired, flatty patty, mostly oneshots, now there's two, quackity is so entertaining, ranboo and slimecicle pog, the compasses are such a crucial role, there's only one valid tag in here, tommy is just so sad why didn't anyone come to his fucking party, wholesome Ghostbur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28015200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theparacosm/pseuds/theparacosm
Summary: A series of one-shots taking place in the Dream SMP that delve into the psychology of the personas. They may reenact canon scenes, they may be an instance all of my own. Some may be angst, some may be fluff, and some may just be cold, hard, battle-worn conversations between these characters.Please read the tags to understand what's going to happen here.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Dave | Technoblade, Charlie Dalgleish & Jschlatt, Charlie Dalgleish & Travis | Traves, Clay | Dream & Dave | Technoblade & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction for the Dream SMP, if you can call it that. Here's the code for my chapters so you know which ones you'd like to read. There will be a summary of each chapter just in case you can't decide whether or not you like it. 
> 
> The chapter below is a list of warnings and things to come, as well as a key to reading.

**Time Era**  
Pre-Tommy Era 🍋  
Post-Tommy Era 💿  
L'Manberg War 🗡️  
L'Manberg Election + Electoral Fallout 🎖️  
A New Era 🌱  
Manberg Festival + Festival Aftermath 🧨   
Manberg-Pogtopia War 🎯  
Reconstruction 🏗️   
Banishment 🧭

**Faction Focus**  
Dream SMP 👑  
L'Manberg 🎄  
Manberg 🍾  
Badlands 💎  
Logstedshire 🌳

**Character Focus**  
Tommy 👕  
Tubbo 🐝  
Dream 🧶  
George 👓  
Sapnap 🔥  
BadBoyHalo 🔆  
Wilbur + Ghostbur 💥  
Schlatt + GhostSchlatt 🐏  
Slimecicle 🎤  
Ranboo 👨💻   
Philza 🕊️  
Technoblade 🌾  
Quackity ♟️  
Niki 🥥  
Fundy 🦊  
Other 🍈

_It's a lot to remember, but I think the special meanings behind the icons may make them more memorable._  


**Just a couple things I need you to understand before reading.**

There will be no sexual interactions between any of the characters, ever. Even though these characters are personas, I will not do it--rather it's because of my inadequacy or my discomfort about it. And [I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT7F15T9VBI) would never ship any real people.

This story will touch on some themes that some people may find triggering. The Dream SMP has always been relatively dark, but the recent arc with Tommy's exile and Dream intrigues me and I wanted to touch on it. 

I will not be skimpy with reminders that these characters are _personas_ not real people. The streamers are their actors, and their characters are separate

I may open requests for certain chapters, depending on the support I get. I don't need people to validate my story, but I won't waste time writing to an empty screen. I'm just as happy to write my fanfictions and read them on my own. That being said, I do appreciate every single person who has or will read this story--even if you don't like it. Thanks for checking it out.

There will be a touch of my own writing and ideas for the SMP. There are a few content creators I'd like to see in the SMP, and occassionally I'll write them in. The one you might see the most is Charlie, also known as Slimecicle. He's a favorite content creator of mine, and I feel he'd fit in perfectly with the crew. I won't waste time explaining why--that's boring--just letting you know.

In no way does my portrayal of these characters emulate how I feel about the content creators in real life. I love all of them--but their characters can be particularly shitty sometimes.

That's all! Please enjoy!


	2. 3:30 EST

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Era 🧭  
>  Organizations 🌳👑🎄  
> Characters 👕🧶**
> 
> Tommy's party goes exactly as planned...for Dream, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For future reference, I'm not going to tolerate people telling me that I'm taking the SMP too serious. I'm wholly aware that it's Minecraft, and that it is all purely fictional. I can write what I please, and interpret this fictional storyline as I please.
> 
> Any and all thoughts [italics] in this chapter belong to Dream. He may be mocking Tommy, but this is all Dream thinking.

**Tommy was going to be so devastated, that much was obvious.**

It was thirteen minutes past the time his beach party was meant to start, and no one was there. Ranboo wasn't darting away from the water at the coast, Ghostbur wasn't looking longingly at the cake he couldn't eat, Tubbo wasn't giving Tommy apologetic glances, Philza wasn't attempting to barter with Fundy for the seat at Tommy's side. Dream hadn't even seen the coast of the recently christened Logstedshire, and he already knew that the warm white sand would be footprint-free. No seagulls would fight people for crumbs of cake, and there wouldn't be a single poorly-made sandcastle for the gently lapping waves to topple and wash away. 

Of course, poor Tommy would assume that every single person he invited--from the amiable Ranboo to the tense Punz--had opened the invite and left it on their desk, cabinet or bed. That none of them bothered to attend the one thing they had promised him when they tossed him from the country he helped save. Not one of them decided to come and offer Tommy a new shirt to replace his tattered old one, present him with a pair of leather shoes to keep his feet warm. Not _one_ of them wanted to come to this open-to-all beach party where war was an afterthought. Tommy had hand-written these letters, each one with a promise to not bring up his exile to their poor, weary, _guilty_ souls. 

Dream almost felt bad for the fact that no one got to read the invites but him. They were still in his backpack, folded into pristine white envelopes with the new crest of Logstedshire waxed over the lip. There was effort in the letters, impeccable penmanship that Dream didn't know Tommy had, and to Tubbo, an apology for the destruction of the little cabin that they had planned to stay in after L'Manberg's second reconstruction.

The envelopes were now soaked with saltwater as Dream rocketed over to Tommy's lonely isle, trident in his hand vibrating with the power of the sea. Depending on how dejected Tommy was, Dream might stay a while, to cement the young man's trust in him further. Dream was being nice, to call it trust. He could see it for really was, but Tommy was blind to his manipulations, so desperate for someone to care about him, take time to speak and walk with him across the grassy plains of his new land.

Tommy's stubbornness to survive was rooted in idiocy, and most people knew it. Some didn't want to acknowledge it, but Tommy was too bull-headed for anyone's own good. His ability to perservere and "bounce back" was admirable in moderation, and his adamancy to stick to his morals was the same. He was too young to understand that war isn't truthful or _moral._

Tubbo learned. His time under Schlatt's thumb had taught him that no one can _truly_ be trusted, and that there is no _good_ side in war. War only happens when both sides believe they are right.

If Tommy had accepted this lesson, maybe he wouldn't be in the situation that he was in right now. Tattered clothes and dead eyes. For someone so pertinacious, Tommy was laughably easy to manipulate. He only cared about two things in the world: his friends and his discs. And Dream had taken them both away. With nothing to care about or treasure, hope was all that the boy had. And with this...

Dream dropped down behind Tommy, just barely tearing into the white tent beside him with the prongs of his trident. Tommy was too downcast to realize Dream would never unintentionally be so careless. He'd have to patch up the rip later--another task for him to do by his lonesome.

"Hello?" Tommy asked, and Dream could hear the eagerness in his voice. Finally, _someone_ was here. 

"Hi," Dream said, keeping a somewhat cheerful tone. He could play it off like he had no idea what Tommy was facing, was enduring. 

"Hi," Tommy said again, awkwardness bleeding through his voice. He had never been so cagey when speaking to Dream before his exile, but once he realized that the man was his only living connection to the outside world, he bit on his tongue to keep himself from saying anything he'd regret. "How are..." the boy trailed off, swallowing hard as he turned to face his Christmas tree. 

Dream kept his face neutral, but it amused him to see that Tommy had put up his own festivities. After all, he wasn't allowed to see L'Manberg's tree in all of it's well-lit, seasonal glory. It was almost like he set up the lights and the ornaments to distract himself from the fact that he would be spending Christmas alone. Ghostbur could only do so much for him--Tommy didn't seem to cheer up even when the spirit provided him with a compass to track his surrogate brother and ex-best friend.

"Where is everyone?" Dream said after Tommy stopped speaking. He took a glance down at the empty beach, quirking his lips into a concerned frown as he and Tommy made their way down to the party area.

"Oh," Tommy said, as if he had forgotten that all his friends didn't attend his party. "Oh, I don't--I don't know."

_Obviously, they're not hiding behind a tree with sparklers and confetti,_ Dream thought dryly as he gave Tommy and apologetic glance. "I'm running a little late, sorry about that."

Tommy would forgive him. He didn't have a choice.

"Tried to make it on time," Dream said, ignoring Tommy suddenly beginning to apologize to him. He supposed that the constant apologizing was a side effect to his machinations, so he learned to tune it out. 

Tommy stopped in his tracks and began to take off his armor, tossing it onto the floor before the man. Dream knelt down and picked up the helmet, the iron freshly-forged. Dream lost count of how many armor sets he had taken from the kid, and this was the first time Tommy disarmed himself without command. There wasa loud thunk as Tommy's axe hit the ground next to his armor.

"No, no, it's fine," Dream said, putting the helmet back down on the ground. Tommy was already shattered over this party, and if Dream tried to take something from him _now_ , it could spark a rebellion. It was a careful balance of Tommy believing that Dream was his friend, but also allowing him to have an underlying suspicion that something wasn't right. _Oh, all my_ other _friends didn't try to take my armor or exile me from the entire SMP. He must be a good guy!_

"R-really?" Tommy asked, latching on to this small act of kindness like a drowning man would a buoy. 

"Yeah!" Dream said nonchalantly, stepping away from the armor and letting Tommy strap it back onto himself. His iron helmet stayed off, though, clutched under his arm. The boy's knuckles were white as he clenched the iron helmet, mind still on his friendly absentees. "I mean, today's the party, right?" 

"Yeah, it's..." Tommy chuckled lifelessly. "Yeah." He still tried to act like nothing was wrong. He would be pretty convincing if his clothes hadn't been reduced to shreds and the bags under his eyes didn't darken every other day. Now fully dressed in his armor, he continued at a quick pace down towards the coast. "Where is everyone?" His mind couldn't emotionally process the fact that no one really came--he probablys still thought they were running late.

"I don't know," Dream said, dragging it out. It was almost too obvious that he was lying, but Tommy didn't even pick up on it.

"You said Wilbur sent the--"

"I saw Tubbo about twenty minutes ago," Dream said, hardly letting Tommy finish his sentence. 

"Wilbur sent out the invites didn't he?" Tommy asked, genuinely confused. _He would've if he'd gotten a chance to actually see them,_ Dream mused silently.

"Yeah!" Dream said, lying once again. "No, yeah, he sent them to everybody." Tommy wouldn't doubt his word for a second. After all, this was _Dream_! The only guy who bothered to visit him. Surely that made up for the fact that he always took his stuff and never let him see anyone else. "I think he actually told Tubbo in person, instead of delivering it through the post."

"Wh--really?" Tommy asked, his voice raising and wavering. Bringing up Tubbo was like punching Tommy in the gut, no matter the situation. Dream found it as intriguing as it was amusing. "Wilbur's seen Tubbo?" _And he didn't even tell me? Now, why_ ever _would Wilbur do that? He's my friend...isn't he?_

"Yeah," Dream said earnestly, "in L'Manberg." Tommy winced again, another soft spot of his, a gentle reminder that Wilbur, as kind and giving as he was, would never _truly_ understand his situation, because he could see everyone in L'Manberg. _Oh, but_ Wilbur _blew up the place! How can he be welcomed back with open arms, while I'm banished for burning down one small little house?_

Tommy just stared at the sun, watching it creep down towards the ocean. It was far past the party's official starting time, but only Tommy and Dream knew that. Tommy looked back at dream, hopelessness dulling the bright blue of his eyes. "Why is no one here, then?"

"Uh," Dream said, trying to come up with something other than telling Tommy the truth. "Maybe they're running late? I was running late?" 

"No one else...no one else is nearby," Tommy murmured as he checked his map. "If they were running late, wouldn't I be able to see them on here?" He showed Dream his enchanted map, showing both of them on the island, and nobody else spanned across the miles of ocean surrounding them, except for Tubbo, who was heading in the opposite direction towards Boomerville. "People are moving _away_."

"I'm here," Dream reminded him. Maybe he was laying it on a little too thick by reminding Tommy that _he_ was the only one Tommy could really depend on, really trust. Tommy looked betrayed, an expression that seemed to be more common for him as time passed by. Dream let out a sigh--not dramatically, almost as if he was disappointed that no one showed up. _See, Tommy? I care. I'm disappointed for you. Why didn't anyone come? Surely they still care about you, Tommy. Surely._ "Why don't we make the best of it? And _when_ "--careful choice of words, here--"people do show up, we can do something...prepare more?"

"But they said they'd be here by...by the end of the day," Tommy murmured, watching as the sun and the bright blue ocean began to meet, yellow fire running across the sea and turning everything in his gaze to gold.

Tommy turned to Dream, who was looking at a piece of unsewn leather in his hands. "I...I thought I was late, so I'm surprised people aren't here...but..."

"Well, okay, I..." Tommy trailed off again, struggling to find a logical explanation for why the chairs were still pushed in to the table, and the cake wasn't out or eaten yet. Some explanation other than the glaringly obvious-- _they don't care about you._ His stubbornness was making Dream horribly impatient--why couldn't he just understand that no one gave a fuck, and then Dream could get on with the next part of his plan? "Well, Wilbur was in charge of the invitations? What...what about--"

"Yeah, the invites said three-thirty," Dream said honestly, having read each and every one of them before folding it into the envelope again and never handing it over to Tommy. "That was...fifteen...eighteen minutes ago?" Dream slung his backpack around on of the chairs as Tommy looked away, another excuse and explanation going to the wind. 

"Oh," Tommy mumbled, trudging over to the protected chest where their cake was held. Tommy had made it himself--and no one was here to eat it. _How sad._ He carried the cake and placed it on the table as Dream looked down at it, taking off his netherite helmet and letting his hair fall out of it. "Well, I guess we can eat..."

"A cake?" Dream asked, taking a glance at his map and noticing that Ranboo had just appeared on the borders of it. "I'm not hungry." And this was the first truth Dream had told Tommy throughout this entire interaction--he was truly full and uninjured, having no need to eat food. Unless... "Here, wait." Dream said, walking over to Tommy and pushing him backwards. "Here, watch this." Tommy didn't even flinch at the punch, just stood where he had been pushed. _Good, he's learning._ "Punch me."

And of course, Tommy would hesitate, even though there was an underlying hatred for this man in green and black. _Oh...what if this is one of Dream's tests?_ He would think. _If I punch him, he blows up Logstedshire or bans everyone from seeing me? Not that they come anyways, but...oh, how horrific and terrible?_

"Go on," Dream said, and Tommy socked him in the shoulder, across his netherite pauldron. It was weak. When Dream didn't retaliate, Tommy gave him another punch, to the chest. "Punch me until I'm hungry."

Tommy continued to throw punches at him, across his torso and T-area, his lips pressed tight and his cheeks reddening with bubbling rage. Dream continued to laugh, amused by Tommy not taking this chance to sock him over the head, especially now that his helmet was sitting on the table next to the cake. Solid proof that Dream's efforts were working.

"Is it working?" Tommy asked, his teeth gritted tight as he continued to weakly punch Dream.

"Just use your sword," Dream tempted him. "It's going to take a very long time if you just use your fists." 

"My hands _are_ getting sore," Tommy admitted, and Dream could see the boy's knuckles turning pink. 

"Okay, I'm hungry," Dream said simply, not bothering to check on Tommy. Another soft reminder that even though Dream was kind to him, he still wouldn't give him everything--still didn't truly _care._ Dream cut himself a slice of the cake and ate it quickly.

"Did it taste nice?" Tommy asked in a dead voice, looking down at his bruised knuckles. 

"Yeah," Dream said truthfully as he cut himself another slice. He wouldn't offer Tommy one--he'd have to do it himself. It didn't matter, anyways. Tommy would still think he cared, still depend on Dream, still like him for just being there. "It's good. You should have a slice."

Tommy looked up at the cake, and Dream watched the boy's face carefully. 

Tommy's face went from neutral, to disgusted, to hateful in the verge of a few seconds. Now, Dream couldn't discern whether he was angry at himself, his friends, or just Dream. They were all equally likely, and it was that impotent rage that would serve Dream well in the future. 

"I've lost my appetite," Tommy said, not stuttering once. 

Dream nodded, impressed at Tommy's gall, and they both looked out across the starry sky together. 

**Everything was going perfectly.**


End file.
